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INSIDE: HARROW SET TO STRUT ITS STUFF - PAGE 7 The 24 PAGES TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 Email: editor@spec.com.au GREATER HAMILTON $1.40 inc GST OUR COMMUNITY, YOUR PAPER CHARITY BIKE RIDERS PASS THROUGH HAMILTON – Page 2 Phone: 03 55 721011 HAMILTON parkrun participants take part in a five-kilometre run or walk around Lake Hamilton on Saturday morning. Numbers are still strong despite the holiday season. See story Page 3. Photo: BILLY EASSON. STEADY GROWTH SKYE GRIGG THE fall in the Southern Grampians shire’ s unemployment rate to 3.5 per cent, is “positive” but perhaps not as positive as the numbers refl ect, says Vote 1 Local Jobs’ party Western Victoria MP James Purcell. Mr Purcell made his comments WEA on Friday afternoon following the release of the projected fi gures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week. The fi gures show that the unemployment rate in the Southern Grampians has fallen to 3.5 per cent for the September 2015 quarter, down from 7.3 per cent in the same quarter in 2014. This is despite data recorded in June last year, which shows THER FORECAST TODY that the number of Centrelink recipients has remained stable in the preceding year, with no signifi cant movement to correspond with the declining jobless rates. A surprising sharp decline, perhaps underscoring the fact that the unemployment rate is not the cut and dried authoritative statistic it is often portrayed to be. The unemployment rate is, A: Mostly sunny , max 34 of course, just a ratio of those “actively looking for work” and ignores those not actively looking but who are still not employed. It also excludes anyone who has worked a minimum of one hour a week, with those categorised as employed, often still seeking more hours. The low number of people surveyed, yet another refl ection of the volatility of the data. Mr Purcell said the fi gures are “positive” but it was “diffi cult to line the anecdotes with unstable ABS data. Whilst across the board there’s a feeling around Western Victoria growth is buoyant, Mr Purcell said “it’s hard to believe that the numbers have more than halved in the space of one year”. He said a “combo” of good signs from agricultural WEDNESDY A: Shower or two, max 39 160109bj005 industries was helping to support the local economy. “Agriculture is still the biggest driver of the economy, and if agriculture is confi dent it has fl ow-on-effects for the entire community, including the retail sector. “Over the last year we have seen good prices in all forms of animal husbandry, dairy, lambs and cattle,” he said. Continued: PAGE 2